The road to recovery for Eloy Jimenez is all but complete.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa said today in his pregame presser that he expects the rehabbing outfielder to be activated and in the lineup for tomorrow night’s game in Kansas City. Though his role is still to be determined, Jimenez could potentially see time both as the designated hitter and in left field. Regardless of where he’s playing, La Russa said he does not anticipate Andrew Vaughn to see at-bats taken away from him.
Jimenez played in 12 games during his rehab assignment, splitting time between the High-A Winston-Salem Dash and Triple-A Charlotte Knights. In that span, he hit .289/.327/.467 (13-for-45) with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, 13 runs scored, and a .793 OPS. He was also not in this afternoon’s starting lineup for Charlotte.
The 24-year-old, who will enter into his third big league season, is recovering from surgery for a ruptured left pectoral tendon. The injury was sustained during a late March spring training game as Jimenez was attempting to rob a home run. When first being diagnosed, the organization set the recovery timeline at five to six months, leading many to believe Eloy would miss a majority of the regular season. Now, the team will instead be getting a big-time addition to a lineup that’s in desperate need of a spark.
Over these next few weeks, it will be interesting to watch where Eloy is penciled in the lineup. Given his history in left field and Andrew Vaughn’s surprisingly well performance to date, it almost makes too much sense to keep him in a DH-role. The injury to catcher Yasmani Grandal just presents a wrinkle in this plan, as he will likely need to spend games as the designated hitter upon his return from a torn knee tendon.
We’ll keep following these storylines throughout the remainder of the season, so be sure to keep it locked on our social media @SoxOn35th and right here at SoxOn35th.com for further updates!
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The catching depth is fine as is. Also, Grandal will be catching again by early September. Eloy should DH for the next 2 – 4 weeks. Later place Eloy in right field, Engel in center, and keep Vaughn in left field. Let’s try Burger at second base rather than making a trade for a short term fix.
The first pre-trade deadline addition is huge, one that didn’t cost the Sox front office a single asset. That said, don’t stop now boys! Go get Adam Frazier or one of the pure rentals to replace 2B Nick Madrigal down the stretch and into the postseason. One more proven and playoff tested veteran bullpen arm would also be nice.
The Sox would also be wise to add a veteran insurance option at catcher like Jonathan Lucroy. Yasmani Grandal is expected back in another month or so but the team’s catching depth is very thin right now with Zack Collins and Seby Zavala behind the dish. Neither offers much offense. An injury to one of them in the next month would leave the team extremely vulnerable. Why not just sign Lucroy back as an insurance policy? He was just outrighted back to AAA for the second time this season by the Braves. Lucroy has ample MLB service time and refused the second assignment and is now a free agent. He performed well for the Sox this past spring as a minor league NRI before they released him in favor of all-hit / no defense Yermin Mercedes. If Collins or Zavala get hurt, Mercedes is not a viable option to replace either behind the plate.
Get Lucroy on the team asap as the right-handed platoon partner with Collins and let Zavala be the insurance policy at AAA until Grandal returns. If the Sox need a DH down the stretch due to injuries they could always promote Mercedes. Few Sox fans want to see Yerminator behind the dish.
The first pre-trade deadline addition is huge, one that didn’t cost the Sox front office a single asset. That said, don’t stop now boys! Go get Adam Frazier or one of the pure rentals to replace 2B Nick Madrigal down the stretch and into the postseason. One more proven and playoff tested veteran bullpen arm would also be nice.
The Sox would also be wise to add a veteran insurance option at catcher like Jonathan Lucroy. Yasmani Grandal is expected back in another month or so but the team’s catching depth is very thin right now with Zack Collins and Seby Zavala behind the dish. Neither offers much offense. An injury to one of them in the next month would leave the team extremely vulnerable. Why not just sign Lucroy back as an insurance policy? He was just outrighted back to AAA for the second time this season by the Braves. Lucroy has ample MLB service time and chose to refuse the second assignment and is now a free agent. He performed well for the Sox this past spring as a minor league NRI before they released him in favor of all-hit / no defense Yermin Mercedes. If Collins or Zavala get hurt, Mercedes is not a viable option to replace either behind the plate.
Get Lucroy on the team asap as the right-handed platoon partner with Collins and let Zavala be the insurance policy at AAA until Grandal returns. If the Sox need a DH down the stretch due to injuries they could always promote Mercedes. Few Sox fans want to see Yerminator behind the dish.